Christopher Townsend - President
Christopher established Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. in September 1998 and serves as President. Previously, he served as Senior Director of Government & Community Affairs for Taco Bell Corp., which is the nation's leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain. He supervised all legislative and regulatory matters that affected Taco Bell at the federal, state, and local levels of government.
While at Taco Bell Corp., Christopher also managed corporate relations and several philanthropic initiatives, including the Taco Bell Foundation and the Taco Bell Discovery Science Center. In September 1995, he arranged for President Bill Clinton to join NBA Superstar Shaquille O'Neal in Santa Ana, CA, to launch TEENSupreme, an innovative $15 Million national partnership between the Taco Bell Foundation and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Then in March 1998, Christopher also arranged for Vice President Al Gore to join bipartisan Orange County elected officials to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Taco Bell Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, California , which Townsend Public Affairs has secured over $27 Million in local, state and federal funding.
Prior to joining Taco Bell Corp., Christopher served for ten years as Vice President of Public Affairs for Stein-Brief Group, Inc., a real estate company based in Orange County. In this role, he managed land-use planning and entitlement activities, and government, community, and media relations. Christopher was instrumental in securing the entitlements for the Monarch Beach development in Dana Point, a 550-acre master-planned destination resort/residential community.
Christopher serves on the Board of Directors of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County and the Orange County Public Affairs Association. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College in 1982 and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1991.
Sean Fitzgerald - Senior Director, Southern California Office
Sean joined Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. in 2002 and previously served as the Director of Communications for L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn. In this role, he handled all media relations and communications for Hahn, which included crises during the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, as well as, the formation of proactive media strategy on issue of importance to Hahn's agenda.
Prior to that, Sean worked with three different Chambers of Commerce in executive management, government relations and economic development roles. Included in this experience is the launch of Destination Irvine, an economic development marketing program created by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce. He also served for three years as the Executive Director of the San Pedro Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and as Vice President of Government Affairs for the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Sean earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Ecology from the University of California-Irvine, and is a graduate of Leadership Long Beach. He is also a founding board member of both the Long Beach Enterprise Center and the Long Beach Chapter of the American Diabetes Association.
Jennifer Thompson - Senior Director
Jennifer joined Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. in 2005 and provides presence in the State Capitol and previously served as a Senior District Aide to U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and was a liaison between the district and the Member by maintaining awareness and involvement in district affairs and issues. She also coordinated the Congresswoman's grant outreach program, which allowed her to work with federal, state, and private grant giving organizations for the 9th Congressional District.
On a state level, Jennifer worked as a Senior Field Representative for former California Assembly member Ellen Corbett, where she coordinated outreach efforts in the 18th Assembly District. Prior to this, she also worked in the Department of Finance under former Governor Gray Davis, analyzing and reviewing budgetary fiscal affairs of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Program and the Department of Mental Health.
On the local level, she worked for the Berkeley Department of Mental Health, where she led a community based collaborative partnership aimed at the development of a detoxification center in Alameda County . She also created program standards for a Homeless Locker Program for the City of Berkeley and currently serves as an advisor to the Oakland City Council on Head Start programs as a member of the Oakland Head Start Advisory Panel.
Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work and a certificate in Women's Studies from Colorado State University and a Master's degree in Social Welfare Management, Planning, and Policy from the University of California-Berkeley.
Heather Dion - Senior Director
Heather joined Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. in early 2006 and helps to manages the majority of the company's municipal clients, in addition to the firm's water and wastewater clients. She manages the federal appropriations process for the firm's Southern California clients, and works on a number of individual projects statewide.
Previously, Heather served as the Senior Project Manager for MuniFinancial, where she worked with a variety of clients focusing on local government finance and Prop 218 issues. She also oversaw all marketing, business development, and client relations in Northern California.
Prior to that, Heather served as the Legislative Specialist for the Orange County Water District, where she oversaw the district's state and federal legislation program. In this role, she provided management for local government relations, state legislation, and policy development, as well as, coordinating all federal affairs for the district. She also served in the Orange County Division office for the League of California Cities as the Regional Issues Analyst, where she performed dual roles for both the Orange County Division and the Council of Governments. This allowed her to actively participate in regional issues and projects, such as focusing on the jobs-housing imbalance, which received state-wide recognition and praise from public and private entities.
Heather received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Nevada-Reno and a Master of Public Administration from California State Long Beach.
Casey Elliott - Senior Legislative Advocate
Casey joined Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. in 2006 to build on our strong Sacramento presence, adding extensive legislative experience to compliment our unparalleled public sector funding advocacy expertise.
Most recently, Casey served as a Legislative Assistant to Assembly member Tom Umberg, who represented the 69th Assembly District, located in central Orange County. He served as the consultant to the Assembly member on issues that came before the Assembly Education committee and staffed legislation on K-12 education funding, community college property, workers' compensation, and physical education.
Prior to that, Casey served as the Legislative Coordinator for the Secretary of State for both Bruce McPherson and Kevin Shelley. In this position, Casey helped craft the legislative priorities for the Secretary of State, and advised the Secretary on legislation affecting the agency including the areas of elections, political reform, and corporate fillings.
Casey received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California-Davis.
Niccolo De Luca - Director
Niccolo joined TPA’s Northern California office in early 2008 and brings to the team over ten years of significant municipal government experience. Previously, Niccolo served as the Deputy City Administrator in the City of Oakland. In this role he was third in charge for overall day-to-day operations of the 7th most populous city in California, working closely with the Mayor, City Council, Police, Fire, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation Departments.
Prior to this position, Niccolo was the Assistant Director of the Public Works Agency and took a lead role in drafting, presenting, and getting approval of the $93 million agency budget. Niccolo is an Oakland native and received a BA in American History from the University of Oregon, Eugene, and completed a one year program at the Universita per Stranieri in Siena, Italy.
Liisa Lawson Stark - Senior Associate
Liisa joined TPA’s State Capitol office in May 2008 and brings with her extensive experience in transportation policy. Prior to joining TPA, Liisa was a legislative representative for the League of California Cities responsible for the League’s transportation, public works, public contracting and public safety legislative programs and policy process.
Liisa worked very closely on the implementation of Proposition 1B, developing the implementation guidelines for the Local Streets and Road Program to help expedite expenditure of these monies by cities and counties, and was recognized for securing $1 billion for cities from the bond. Liisa graduated from California State University, Chico with a BA in Public Relations and a minor in Spanish.
Amanda Fenton - Senior Associate
Amanda joined TPA's Northern California office in April 2008 and specializes in finding creative program and capital funding sources for museums, education agencies and charter schools. Prior to joining TPA, Amanda served as an independent campaign consultant for a local school district bond, crafting and executing strategy to secure over seventy percent of the vote. Previously, Amanda was a political affairs assistant for the Consulate General of Canada and was responsible for providing relevant California policy analysis and coordinating advocacy efforts across Northern California. Amanda is a Bay Area native and a graduate of the Alameda Community Learning Center, the first charter school in Alameda, CA. She received a BA in Public Policy from Stanford University and completed undergraduate studies at Oxford University.
Catherine Townsend - Senior Advisor
Catherine Townsend brings over 20 years of management expertise to TPA including, strategic fundraising, marketing, branding and leadership development to the firm. Catherine joined Townsend Public Affairs in 2008 to launch the Washington, DC office. In addition to overseeing the Federal practice, Catherine supports the President in managing the firm. Having lived on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC for nearly 23 years, Catherine has developed strong relationships with Members of Congress and their staff.
Previously, she served as the Associate Director of Share Our Strength, one of the nation's leading organizations working to end childhood hunger, and developed events, cause-marketing initiatives and key leadership around the country to support their efforts. Catherine is an active member of the Capitol Hill community, helping lead a recent public-private initiative to renovate eight public school libraries and the commissioner and coach of the Sports on the Hill girls basketball program. She received her BS in Psychology from Scripps College in Claremont, CA.
is the Senior Advisor of Townsend Public Affairs and brings 23 years of experience of non-profit management, strategic fundraising, marketing and leadership development to the firm. Catherine joined Townsend Public Affairs in 2008 to launch the Washington, DC office. In addition to overseeing the Federal practice, Catherine supports the President in managing the firm. Having lived on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC for nearly 23 years, Catherine has developed strong relationships with Members of Congress and their staff.
Prior to joining Townsend Public Affairs, Catherine served as the Associate Director of Share Our Strength (1987-2005), a national non-profit organization leading the movement to end childhood hunger. Working with the U.S. food service industry, namely prominent chefs and restaurateurs in cities across the country, as well as Fortune 500 companies, Catherine created events and cause-marketing programs that raised millions of dollars annually for distribution in grants to non-profit organizations throughout the United States and in select developing countries. Events included prominent Taste of the Nation, Writers Harvest, Dine Out for America, the Great American Bake Sale and the Gourmet Dinner Series. She also managed partnerships with American Express (most notably their Charge Against Hunger campaign from 1992-1996), Evian, House of Seagram, Calphalon Cookware, Bon Appétit magazine, Food & Wine magazine, J.A. Henckels and Bloomingdales. Her strong connections with chefs resulted in the publication of her cookbook, Home Food: 44 Great Chefs Cook on their Night Off (pub. 1995, Clarkson Potter), co-authored with Debbie Shore, co-founder of Share Our Strength.
Catherine is well connected in Washington, DC, having worked in collaboration with District of Columbia elected officials, DC Public Schools and the Capitol Hill Community Foundation to chair fundraising efforts of the School Libraries Project (2005-2008) - a public/private parntership to renovate eight public school libraries in Washington, DC. She is also commissioner and coach of Sports on the Hill's girls basketball program, involving over 70 middle school-aged girls.
Catherine is an experienced public speaker and has traveled to numerous cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as to Africa and South America. Catherine started her career in Southern California and is a native of Seal Beach, CA. She has an undergraduate degree from Scripps College, part of The Claremont Colleges. She is married with four children and currently lives on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Dana DeBeaumont - Director of Federal Affairs
Dana joins our Federal Office with more than twenty years of media, public relations and government affairs experience to advocacy efforts, including political involvement in Illinois Democratic politics. She is our in-house expert on Federal funding opportunities and finding creative solutions to client resource needs. Dana has successfully worked with vitually every Congressional committee and has secured more than $85 million in appropriations for various projects. Dana is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism and Political Science, and also received a Master's Degree in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois.